Cecile McLorin Salvant is one of the best young jazz singers to appear on the scene in years. She’s the prefect combination of what many think a great singer should be. She creates her own songs, allowing us to see the world through her eyes and she also combs American music history looking for semi-obscure gems to polish and present to a new audience.

OK, maybe "anarchist" is too harsh a word to apply to singer/songwriter/pianist/ukulele player, Nellie McKay, but as you will hear in this interview, Nellie is a woman of strong beliefs, which she presents pleasantly, politely and often with great wit. But in her conversation and in her songs, her opinions and social observations are definitely on display.

Forty years ago, a band called Eleventh House helped set the standard for what would become known as Jazz-Rock Fusion. The band consisted of Larry Coryell (guitar), Alphonse Mouzon (drums), Mike Mandel (keyboards), Danny Trifan (bass) and Randy Brecker (trumpet).

On this leg of the Eleventh House Reunion Tour, Mandel couldn’t make the gig so Larry brought in one of Seattle’s finest pianists, Marc Seales, to fill in.

Pianist/singer Marcia Ball is one of the best-known players of Louisiana blues, swamp blues and boogie-woogie. While in town for a show at Jazz Alley, we were lucky enough to have Marcia stop by for a solo performance and interview hosted by All Blues' John Kessler.

“’Nuff said,” is right. When jazz fans hear the names Monty Alexander, John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton in conjunction, they know they’ll be treated great music, played with inspiration, joy and absolutely amazing technical chops.

Monty (piano), John (bass) and Jeff (drums) have performed together off and on for almost 40 years.

During the 1960s there was a golden age of soul music in America. Some of the greatest songs from that era came from the Stax Recording Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. A short list of artists who recorded there could include Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, Sam & Dave and the instrumental band led by Hammond organist, Booker T. Jones—Booker T. And The M.G.s.

Here’s what you do: Start with vocalist, Joan Osborne, who has had pop music hits, performed on The Grand Old Opry, toured with members of The Grateful Dead and yet never strayed from her roots in rhythm ‘n blues music.

Grammy award-winning jazz vocalist, Dee Dee Bridgewater almost always performs with a band accompanying her, while pianist Benny Green is generally heard in a trio configuration and seldom works with vocalists (with the notable exception of being Betty Carter’s pianist when he was in his 20’s).

So this session was a double treat: hearing two great musicians, both slightly out of their performance comfort zones, but totally in the moment with each other.

Seattle hip hop artist DJ Sabzi has a new project celebrating a Northwest favorite: The Vietnamese noodle soup called pho. In his song (see video below), he makes sure we know how to pronounce this special soup, telling us that "it don't rhyme with yo!"

Curtis Stigers is a singer, songwriter, saxophonist who loves the great Tin Pan Alley songs of George Gershwin and Cole Porter, but finds a greater creative challenge in doing jazz versions of songs by more contemporary songwriters.

In this studio session, hosted by Kevin Kniestedt, we’re pleased to introduce you to a woman who we believe is one of the finest up-and-coming international jazz talents to come along in years, Halie Loren.

Pianist Cyrus Chestnut came onto the jazz scene slowly. From the mid-1980’s to mid-1990’s, he apprenticed as pianist for Jon Hendricks, Better Carter, Donald Harrison and Wynton Marsalis. Since then he has toured the world numerous times and recorded 15 albums as a leader.

Bellingham jazz singer, Cheryl Jewell, was raised in Oak Harbor, Washington. When she went to college in Bellingham, she fell in love with that city. She left only to pursue her singing career in Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles.

After working for several years as a rock and country singer, Cheryl decided to move back to Bellingham and pursue her first musical love—jazz. With the release of her first jazz CD, My Blue Heaven, Cheryl has placed herself on the top shelf of West Coast jazz singers.

Over the past 20 years, vocalist, Karrin Allyson, has recorded 13 albums that cover a vast musical territory. She’s explored The Great American Songbook, the musical styles of Brazil and France, the blues and the work of more contemporary songwriters. She’s recorded a tribute to John Coltrane, a CD of late-night ballads and earned 4 Grammy nominations.

Despite being so busy, every time her tour schedule brings her to Seattle, she visits her friend, jazz host Dick Stein, in the KPLU/Jazz24 performance studio to give us a sample of the music she currently exploring ... and there’s no telling what that might be.

Blues singer Janiva Magness just released a new CD, Stronger For It, and was recently in town performing at Jazz Alley. She and her 4-piece band visited KPLU’s Seattle Studio and performed 4 songs from the new CD. It’s her 9th release, but the first to feature songs written by her.

Singer Tierney Sutton’s band were in deep discussion five minutes before their live in-studio performance on KPLU last Wednesday, trying to decide which three songs to play for our audience. It was just one example of how interconnected each member of this quartet really is.

We learned more about each band member’s extra-musical skills were divided, how they’d go about sharing their surely impending Grammy Award (they've been nominated for five so far), and Tierney told us about walking the fine line as lyrical story teller and vocal improviser.

When pianist Lynne Arriale released her first CD in 1994, KPLU began playing music from it right away. It was clear to us that Lynne had that "something extra" that separates good musicians from great musicians.

Over the course of her career she’s continued to build on that quality, so we were especially pleased to finally welcome her as a guest artist in our Seattle performance studio.

In the first generation of be-bop musicians, Ray Brown was King of the Jazz Bass. Today, the ‘go-to’ jazz bassist is Christian McBride, so we felt quite lucky when he said he had the time to stop into to KPLU studios for a performance with pianist, Peter Martin.

Tenor saxophonist/composer, Benny Golson is now in his second half-century as a touring and recording jazz artist. He began performing almost 60 years ago and recorded his first LP as a bandleader 55 years ago … and if his stop by the KPLU studios last week is any indication, he shows no signs of slowing down now.

"If you’ve got music in your heart, you’re gonna be a happy person, no matter what."

That’s what trumpeter Arturo Sandoval told KPLU's Jazz on the Grooveyard host Kevin Kniestedt, as he recalls growing up in rural Cuba and having a trumpet teacher tell him (at age 10) that he had no talent and should not pursue music.

Obviously, Sandoval, who is now known as one of the world’s foremost jazz trumpeters, didn’t listen to the teacher and it’s a pure delight to hear him tell the story in this latest installment of KPLU's Studio Sessions.

It would seem that jazz vocalist, Sophie Milman is in motion constantly. She was born in Russia, raised in Israel and moved to Canada when she was in her late teens. Now, at age 27, she’s just released her 6th CD and seems to be perpetually on tour.

With someone moving as fast as Sophie, we were lucky to get her and her band into the KPLU studios for a live performance/interview, hosted by Kevin Kniestedt.